About the Book

Book: A Counterfeit Betrothal

Author: Denise Weimer

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: September 6, 2023

A frontier scout, a healing widow, and a desperate fight for peace.

At the farthest Georgia outpost this side of hostile Creek Territory in 1813, Jared Lockridge serves his country as a scout to redeem his father’s botched heritage. If he can help secure peace against Indians allied to the British, he can bring his betrothed to the home he’s building and open his cabinetry shop. Then he comes across a burning cabin and a traumatized woman just widowed by a fatal shot.

Freed from a cruel marriage, Esther Andrews agrees to winter at the Lockridge homestead to help Jared’s pregnant sister-in-law. Lame in one foot, Esther has always known she is secondhand goods, but the gentle carpenter-turned-scout draws her heart with as much skill as he creates furniture from wood. His family’s love offers hope even as violence erupts along the frontier—and Jared’s investigation into local incidents brings danger to their doorstep. Yet how could Esther ever hope a loyal man like Jared would choose her over a fine lady?Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

North Georgia native Denise Weimer has authored over a dozen traditionally published novels and a number of novellas—historical and contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and time slip. As a freelance editor and Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books, she’s helped other authors reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

More from Denise

Romance on the Colonial Georgia Frontier

Near my home north of Atlanta, we have plenty of history, which is great for a lifelong history buff like me. But apart from some Colonial-era settlement in Savannah and Augusta, most of it (at least, the recorded part) doesn’t trace back much before the Civil War. Many town and river names hint of the native people and earlier times.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that a War of 1812 fort existed in what is currently Gwinnett County—then Jackson County—less than forty miles northeast of current downtown Atlanta. That evidence of this fort was plowed up in someone’s back yard in 2009 made it even more intriguing. And the fact that I grew up in Jackson County and later briefly lived and worked in Gwinnett (as a historical interpreter, of all things) made my connection to Fort Daniel a close one. The location is now an archeological site with a small museum maintained by the Fort Daniel Foundation.

Most folks, even those who live around here, aren’t aware that the Creek War (or Red Stick War) fought in modern-day Alabama was part of the War of 1812. Or that the Cherokees fought alongside the Americans against the Creeks, allied to the British. The military side of that story is explored in my earlier novel, Bent Tree Bride. But when I learned about Fort Daniel, a home front romance, A Counterfeit Betrothal, book one in my Scouts of the Georgia Frontier Series, was born.

1813

At the farthest Georgia outpost this side of hostile Creek Territory, Jared Lockridge serves his country as a scout to redeem his father’s botched heritage. If he can help secure the peace against Indians allied to the British, he can bring his betrothed to the home he’s building and open his cabinetry shop. Then he comes across a burning cabin and a traumatized woman just widowed by a fatal shot.

Freed from a cruel marriage, Esther Andrews agrees to winter at the Lockridge homestead to help Jared’s pregnant sister-in-law. Lame in one foot, Esther has always known she is secondhand goods, but the gentle carpenter-turned-scout draws her heart with as much skill as he creates furniture from wood. His family’s love offers hope even as violence erupts along the frontier—and Jared’s investigation into local incidents brings danger to their doorstep. Yet how could Esther ever hope a loyal man like Jared would choose her over a fine lady?

Esther seems to have everything against her—a physical handicap, an abusive past, and then being stranded on the frontier without money, friends, or relatives. Not to mention, the assailant who killed her husband still appears to be stalking her. Her only skill? The herbal remedies learned from a Cherokee woman. The harshest winter in Georgia history closes in, threatening to extinguish all hope. Yet through the example of the loving Lockridge family who take Esther in, she finds her identity and strength in God’s love…and eventually, the love of a good man.

In writing this story, I drew on real history and folklore as related in History of Gwinnett County Georgia 1818-1943 Vol. I by J.C. Flanigan and The Early History of Jackson County Georgia: The Writings of the Late G.J.N. Wilson. The panther attack Esther and Tabitha Lockridge face during the hard winter is based on an 1830s account of a Missouri settler. And the Wog? This strange creature of legend is not only mentioned in the History of Jackson County, but I grew up hearing tales about it as late as the 1980s.

A Counterfeit Betrothal is a story of how healing and redemption can happen among the harshest circumstances. But it’s not just a survival tale. Its sweet romance and loyal friendship will take you back to bayberry candles and syllabub at Christmas, the scratch of a fiddle at a spring log rolling, and the laughter of loved ones gathered around a crackling fire. I hope you enjoy the journey!

Interview with Denise

What book is currently on your bedside table?

I must confess, there isn’t one. My Bible sits on my coffee table-slash-ottoman, where I have my devotions each morning. But as an editor for Wild Heart Books, my days are so taken up with reading for editing purposes that my eyeballs, back, and neck demand a break when I’m not working. Sometimes, I actually escape from my editing desk to take my books to festivals and signings, attend historical events with my friends, and hike the North Georgia mountains … especially in the glorious fall!

Can you share with us something about the book that isn’t in the blurb?

A Counterfeit Betrothal is set around an actual War of 1812 fort that was discovered in the back yard of property owners in Gwinnett County. During that time, it was in Jackson County and was the westernmost point of settlement before Creek and Cherokee Territory. The location is meaningful to me as an author because I grew up in Jackson County and briefly worked as a historical interpreter in Gwinnett County. I used some very old history books from both counties in my research. It’s going to be very neat this October to take this novel set at Fort Daniel to their Living History Faire in my Colonial clothing!

What is the key theme and/or message in the book?

Emotional healing and our value in Christ are major themes in A Counterfeit Betrothal. Lame in one foot and recently widowed from an abusive marriage, Esther has always considered herself secondhand goods. As she recovers with the hero and his brother and pregnant sister-in-law, she learns from the Lockridges that God values her highly. Her confidence is slowly buoyed when her skills as a healer help them survive the harsh winter and fighting along the frontier. The ultimate test in her mind is whether Jared would ever choose her over the fine lady from back East he’s expected to wed.

Jared, who is loyal to a fault, has to learn when it’s time to let go of one thing and embrace another. And to not let his fear of becoming like his father make him miss God’s will for his life.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Connect with Denise here:

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Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

Travel back in time to the next book of the Scouts of the Georgia Frontier, coming in November. A Courageous Betrothal is a bonus novella set in 1779 and originally released as Across Three Autumns in Backcountry Brides.

Red-haired, freckle-faced, and almost six feet tall, Jenny White has resigned herself to fame over love. Possessing the courage and wits to guard her younger siblings against nature, natives, and loyalists in Georgia’s “Hornet’s Nest” gives life meaning until she meets Caylan McIntosh, scout to Colonel Elijah Clark.

From the time Jenny nurses the young lieutenant back to health after the Battle of Kettle Creek, she can’t deny her attraction to her father’s comrade. It doesn’t help that the vexing Highlander seems determined to dismantle her emotional armor. But when Georgia falls to the British and Caylan returns to guide Jenny’s family on a harrowing exodus into the North Carolina mountains, will his secrets and the ravages of smallpox prove stronger than his devotion? Or will a love as tough as their backwoods home lead them to A Courageous Betrothal?

After the novella, look for the next book of the series in January, A Cherished Betrothal, set on the border of Georgia and South Carolina during the American Revolution. Book Four, A Conflicted Betrothal, will take us to the Stamp Act protests in Savannah in 1765.

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, September 6

For him and My Family, September 7

Life on Chickadee Lane, September 7

Connie’s History Classroom, September 8

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 9

Avid Reader Nurse, September 9

Bizwings Book Blog, September 10

Books You Can Feel Good About, September 11

Blossoms and Blessings, September 11

lakesidelivingsite, September 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 13

Holly’s Book Corner, September 13

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 14

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, September 15 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, September 15

Cover Lover Book Review, September 16

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 17

Pause for Tales, September 17

Simple Harvest Reads, September 18 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

She Lives To Read, September 19

Love. Love. Read., September 19

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Denise is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/2813a/a-counterfeit-betrothal-celebration-tour-giveaway